Most Popular Raspberry Pi Expansion Boards

These ten most popular Raspberry Pi expansion boards for embedded engineers will keep you going for half

a lifetime Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) board attached to the Raspberry Pi development board provides expansion and upgrade of functional options for the development platform. These HAT boards provide additional GPIO, audio/video capabilities, relays, motor drivers, expanded communication options, and a range of other functional options, making the Raspberry Pi the platform of choice for developers and creative people. As more and more HAT products come to market, engineers can design more projects with unique functions and more development options.

Let's take a closer look at the ten most popular Raspberry Pi expansion boards:

1. Sense HAT - Designed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation for British ESA astronaut Tim Peake, the Sense HAT includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, temperature, pressure and humidity sensors, as well as an 8×8 RGB LED matrix and a 5-button joystick, and supports Python programming.

2. PiJuice Mobile Power Platform - PiSupply's PiJuice portable platform is an uninterruptible power bank HAT for the Raspberry Pi, ideal for remote IoT platforms or handheld gaming devices, with an 1820mAh battery that can power a Pi 3 for 4 to 6 hours. 

3. Adafruit 16-Channel PWM/Servo HAT - Adafruit's 16-Channel PWM/Servo HAT controls 16 servo motors, provides up to 1.6KHz PWM, and is powered at 5V to avoid the intermittent current.

4. Pimoroni RoboHAT - Pimoroni's RoboHAT is ideal for robotics projects and includes a pair of H-Bridge DC motor drivers, GPIO inputs and outputs, an ultrasonic distance sensor header, and a separate power supply option with a 5V regulator. You can also view at Discount Code

5. Pimoroni Automation HAT - Pimoroni's Automation HAT has a powerful feature set, including control of 24V devices such as sprinkler systems, fish feeders, blind automation and lighting systems, equipped with relays, ADCs, inputs and outputs, and LED indicators.

6. ProtoCentral HealthyPi v3 - ProtoCentral's HealthyPi HAT is designed for health monitoring and includes temperature, pulse oximeter, ECG respiratory sensors, and 20 adhesive electrodes for monitoring vital signs with a touchscreen.

7. Linkwave The Pilot - Linkwave's Pilot HAT adds 2G/3G/4G cellular connectivity for remote missions, with a Sierra Wireless HL 3G/HSPA radio and GPS chip.

8. Dragino LoRa GPS HAT - Dragino's LoRa GPS HAT supports FM communications and features a SX1276/SX1278 transceiver, L80 GPS, and LoRa modem, providing a variety of features.

9. Duino- The Duino HAT is similar to the Arduino Uno and can be programmed with a Raspberry Pi, featuring an ATMEGA328P microcontroller, a prototyping area, and a variety of I/O interfaces. Buyers also purchase at DiscountCode.co

10. UUGear Witty Pi 2 - UUGear's Witty Pi 2 provides RTC and power management options, including a single-button button, status indicator LED, battery slot, and power options, and supports Bash or GUI coding.

With the launch of more HAT products, the functionality and application scope of the Raspberry Pi ecosystem are constantly expanding. These expansion boards provide additional hardware functions and simplify the development process, allowing more engineers and creative personnel to create innovative projects. In the future, we look forward to seeing more Raspberry Pi-based solutions, bringing more possibilities to the technology field.